Melkus was a

marque A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

of single seat racing cars and

sport car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

s founded by the race driver Heinz Melkus in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. The company existed from 1959 to 1986, and then from 2009 to 2012. The cars originally used engines from

Wartburg The Wartburg () is a castle originally built in the Middle Ages. It is situated on a precipice of to the southwest of and overlooking the town of Eisenach, in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It was the home of St. Elisabeth of Hungary, the ...

s and many of the other parts came from Wartburgs and

Trabant Trabant () is a series of small cars produced from 1957 until 1991 by former East German car manufacturer VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau. In total, four different models were made, the Trabant 500, Trabant 600, Trabant 601, and the Tr ...

s. The racing cars competed in Formula 3,

Formula Junior Formula Junior is an open wheel formula racing class first adopted in October 1958 by the CSI (''International Sporting Commission'', the part of the FIA that then regulated motorsports). The class was intended to provide an entry level class ...

and

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula For ...

. The 2009 to 2012 models used engines from

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

and

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post-W ...

. The only road car the company produced from 1959 to 1986 was the

Melkus RS 1000 Melkus RS 1000 is a sports car produced by Melkus. It is powered by a tuned, mid-mounted 3-cylinder 2-stroke 992 cm3 engine, similar to the one in the Wartburg 353, and features gull-wing doors. 101 cars were made between 1969 and 197 ...

. It was a sleek sports car powered by a tuned mid-mounted Wartburg 3-cylinder 2-stroke engine. Most of the cars used the 992 cc version, but some of the later cars had the 1200 cc version. It had

gullwing doors In the automotive industry, a gull-wing door, also known as a falcon-wing door or an up-door, is a car door that is hinged at the roof rather than the side, as pioneered by Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, first as a race car in 1952 ( W194), and then a ...

. 101 cars were made. The company stopped making cars in 1986. In the early 1990s, Heinz Melkus and his family started running a BMW dealership in Dresden. In December 2006,

Melkus Engineering Melkus was a marque of single seat racing cars and sport cars founded by the race driver Heinz Melkus in Dresden in East Germany. The company existed from 1959 to 1986, and then from 2009 to 2012. The cars originally used engines from Wartburg ...

--a German company owned by Peter Melkus, son of Heinz Melkus--announced it would re-launch the RS 1000 sports car. A new model, the

Melkus RS 2000 Melkus was a marque of single seat racing cars and sport cars founded by the race driver Heinz Melkus in Dresden in East Germany. The company existed from 1959 to 1986, and then from 2009 to 2012. The cars originally used engines from Wartbu ...

was produced from 2009 to 2012. It was originally to be powered by either an Opel or turbocharged Volkswagen engine. There is also talk about a GT model with . The new RS 2000 premiered at the

Frankfurt International Motor Show The International Motor Show Germany or International Mobility Show Germany, in German known as the ''Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung'' (''IAA'' – International Automobile Exhibition), is one of the world's largest mobility shows. It cons ...

in 2009. The car manufacturing arm of Melkus filed for bankruptcy in August 2012.

Models

* Melkus JAP Eigenbau (1954) * Melkus Formel Junior Baureihe (1959/60) * Melkus Formel Junior Baureihe (1961/62) * Melkus Formel Junior Baureihe (1963) * Melkus Formel 3 Baureihe (1964) * Melkus SRG MT 77 *

Melkus PT 73 Spyder The Melkus PT 73 Spyder was a prototype racing car built by Melkus in 1973. It consisted of a new, open chassis for the Melkus RS 1000 Melkus RS 1000 is a sports car produced by Melkus. It is powered by a tuned, mid-mounted 3-cylinder 2 ...

* Melkus Lada ML89 * Melkus BMW MB90 * Melkus Silberpfeil * Melkus Zigarre *

* Melkus RS 2000 (2008) * Melkus RS 2000 GT (2011) * Melkus RS 2000 GTS (2011)

References

External links

Company history at RitzSite

Melkus
- Dresden based BMW and Lotus dealer
Melkus Motorsport

{{Automotive industry in Germany Car manufacturers of Germany Sports car manufacturers Manufacturing companies based in Dresden Car manufacturers of East Germany German racecar constructors